Lyme Disease (cost, education, health care)

[Kracer]

"There was a vaccine. It was taken off the market in 2002, due to 'low demand'."

Don't think so! Concern over side effects stopped that attempt.

Large problem down here as well. Vet says he considers Lyme as a possible cause for everything short of a broken bone. GP I saw the other day also mentioned Lyme even though I presented with a forearm ding.

Neighbor and several of his family had the telltale bullseye.

The deer ticks are about the size of a poppy seed. Not all deer ticks carry the disease. If your dark haired and hairy you'll never find a deer tick.

A firend had been hospitalized with Lyme and had brain swelling. She recovered. Another friend had recurring bouts despite several rounds of IV antibiotics.

Not sure of the latest tests, but the typical test given had a 50/50 chance of correctly identifying Lymes. A more expensive test developed on the west coast and was a better indicator.

I'm in the weeds everyday, so far so good, methinks.

This year I only picked up about 5 large ticks all season. Most years I can pull off half a dozen per trip. Ticks have a distinctive odor when burned followed by a 'pop'.

I'd bet disease reservoirs are probably localized, perhaps endemic and flare from time to time, following the path of every other insect borne disease.

Some folks around her have chickens or guinea fowl roaming their yards as these birds are insect vacuums. The flocks need replenishing because of the hungry coons and foxes.

[brokemama6]

well said reloop

[tcrackly]

Originally Posted by OutDoorNut

Your own link ( Tick#Life cycle ) says, "The blacklegged or deer tick (Ixodes scapularis) is dependent on the white-tailed deer for reproduction."

Which means . . .

No Deer = No Tick Reproduction

No tick reproduction = No More Ticks.

And so . . .

No Deer = No Deer Ticks!

I was rushing this a.m. And I do recognize that Wikipedia is NOT the be all end all to accepted information. In fact if I had more time I could amend that very definition myself.
blacklegged tick or deer tick - Ixodes scapularis Say
Blacklegged Tick or Deer Tick - Ixodes scapularis

Note that the text indicates "prefers white-tailed deer". It is not an exclusive choice on the part of the tick. You and I are just as handy if we spend a lot of time in the woods.

[maureenb]

Originally Posted by reloop

I'll say this and be done with it:

Awareness is all one really needs. I check for ticks, I'll check for the bullseye rash if I get bitten, I'll seek treatment if needed, and I'll use a little common sense like wearing long pants and/or repellent in the woods.

I spend too much time hugging a woodstove in the dead of winter to avoid anything outdoors because of a bug.

Yes, Lyme is a serious disease which must be carefully managed throughout treatment, but life in general is deadly anyway.

Couldn't agree more.

There have been several well informed posts made on this topic - thank you for this.

I've pulled two ticks off of myself since June. The first was biting my belly button, and the second had latched onto my earlobe. I can hardly wait for the third...


Maybe Brad can lighten things up a bit:
Ticks

[maineguy8888]

I know they've made it this far north, but I believe their prevalance is still much lower here than in southern Maine/rest of New England...

[Maineah]

Ticks have kept me out of the woods. There are thousands of them around here. I get them on me from just mowing the lawn....on a riding lawnmower!! Turkeys have been a big part of the infestation. I have yet to see a dead turkey that wasn't covered with dozens of ticks. We check ourselves for ticks after just sitting on the patio now. They are a huge problem. Bring back DDT!

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by tcrackly

I was rushing this a.m. And I do recognize that Wikipedia is NOT the be all end all to accepted information. In fact if I had more time I could amend that very definition myself.
blacklegged tick or deer tick - Ixodes scapularis Say
Blacklegged Tick or Deer Tick - Ixodes scapularis

Note that the text indicates "prefers white-tailed deer". It is not an exclusive choice on the part of the tick. You and I are just as handy if we spend a lot of time in the woods.

"Lyme disease . . . The tick is a deer tick that depends on the existence of a high density of deer for its survival, around 10 to 12 deer per sq mile. When deer are kept in balance below that number . . . there are very few ticks and little or no Lyme disease."

"Adult female deer ticks depend on a large 5 to 7 day blood meal on a large mammal that is present in large enough numbers for the ticks to reliably find one.

"Smaller mammals do not result in the level of fertility the tick needs for the tick species to go on and thrive."

"Fewer deer in an area reduce the chances of successful tick feeding and mating such that when deer numbers fall below a density of around 10 to 12 per square mile, ticks fail to succeed and the species dies out after two years."

"Deer are key to the reproductive success of deer ticks."

"Experts agree that culling the deer herd would reduce the incidence of Lyme disease. But there are a number of impediments to achieving this goal. These include a general lack of awareness of the connection between deer and Lyme disease." [Get your heads out of the sand, people!]

The above quotes taken from here: CCELD: Lyme Prevention

You can find plenty of info there, including actual case studies of deer reduction programs that resulted in success.

For example:

"The reduction of deer on Great Island (a peninsula on Cape Cod, MA) by 97% from an
estimated 32 deer to 1 animal from 1982 to 1984 (52 deer in all) resulted in ~80 and ~55%
average reductions in larvae and nymphs on mice in the 3 years following the intervention.
Continued maintenance of a density 6 deer/mi2 has reduced tick-borne disease incidence
from 16% of a community of 220 people to only 3 cases since 1986 (Telford 2002; Wilson
et. al. 1988)."

The "Tick Management Handbook" contains some tick control advice: Tick Management Handbook 2007

And from that handbook:

"The evidence is clear and indisputable that as deer numbers go up in a region or state so do tick populations and human numbers of Lyme cases.

"All regions with high Lyme rates have high deer populations.

"Those with low deer populations have low or zero Lyme disease rates.

"When deer are removed from an island ... but all other animals such as white footed mice, chipmunks and birds are still present, there is no Lyme disease whatsoever."

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by Maineah

Ticks have kept me out of the woods. There are thousands of them around here. I get them on me from just mowing the lawn....on a riding lawnmower!! Turkeys have been a big part of the infestation. I have yet to see a dead turkey that wasn't covered with dozens of ticks. We check ourselves for ticks after just sitting on the patio now. They are a huge problem. Bring back DDT!

Maineah,

The "Tick Management Handbook" contains lots of info, including tick control advice that might help you at least sit on your patio and ride your lawnmower again: Tick Management Handbook 2007 (it's a good sized pdf file, so it may take a while to load--so don't think the link doesn't work. Takes about 30 or more seconds for me on DSL)

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by reloop

I'll say this and be done with it:

Awareness is all one really needs. I check for ticks, I'll check for the bullseye rash if I get bitten, I'll seek treatment if needed, and I'll use a little common sense like wearing long pants and/or repellent in the woods.

I spend too much time hugging a woodstove in the dead of winter to avoid anything outdoors because of a bug.

Yes, Lyme is a serious disease which must be carefully managed throughout treatment, but life in general is deadly anyway.

That's the problem.

You act like there are only two choices:

1) Stay out of the woods.

2) Or take your chances with a disease that is too often so hard for doctors to diagnose that it can be identified too late to easily cure it (or maybe not be curable at all).

How about a third choice?

3) Drastically thin the deer population.

Sheesh. Getting that point across is like trying to get 19th Century surgeons to wash their hands before operating on someone. They were deaf to the evidence for the longest time and refused to wash.

[cebdark]

Originally Posted by OutDoorNut

That's the problem.

You act like there are only two choices:

1) Stay out of the woods.

2) Or take your chances with a disease that is too often so hard for doctors to diagnose that it can be identified too late to easily cure it (or maybe not be curable at all).

How about a third choice?

3) Drastically thin the deer population.

Sheesh. Getting that point across is like trying to get 19th Century surgeons to wash their hands before operating on someone. They were deaf to the evidence for the longest time and refused to wash.

Okay, so I'm not done with it. Please tell me where in the following statement that I advocated for "staying out of the woods":

"I'll say this and be done with it:

Awareness is all one really needs. I check for ticks, I'll check for the bullseye rash if I get bitten, I'll seek treatment if needed, and I'll use a little common sense like wearing long pants and/or repellent in the woods.

I spend too much time hugging a woodstove in the dead of winter to avoid anything outdoors because of a bug.

Yes, Lyme is a serious disease which must be carefully managed throughout treatment, but life in general is deadly anyway. "

What I advocate is education and preferably not from just a few internet sources. I also advocate using one ounce of common sense, and visiting your primary care doctor or in the case of those who don't have one, a health care clinic.

What I don't like to see (and see often) is "worrywartitis."

I don't like to listen to people gripe about the cost of health care and then watch panic-prone people trot into ERs with a ziploc baggie containing a bug that they just got bitten by 20 minutes before. They get discharge papers that say "Follow up with your primary care physician" tomorrow, and a bill that they most probably can't pay for in the first place. Sorry, it may sound crass, but the fact of the matter is there is a core population of people who fret over anything, and furthermore, watch a lot of TV.

As far as thinning the deer population, I have a DH, DS, and will have a DD who will eventually contribute to that - IF there remains anymore areas in which they will be able to hunt.

That's kind of hard to do when lands get bought up by people who hate hunting isn't it? That's okay, our flat-broke state can pay for it I guess.

Also, while medicine has come a long way, there are still many diseases we have no clue about, and although we thankfully know much more about Lyme now, who's to say that the rising coyote population isn't harboring some other sort of disease-spreading tick we haven't yet discovered? No one. That's who.

Will this little factoid keep me and my hound from our daily walk in the woods? No.

Will I continue to educate myself and use a little common sense when it comes to my health? Of course.